The Fort Bragg Scandal: Conduct Most Becoming

How many times can the military pretend to be shocked, shocked, simply shocked!

This story seems to come around so often I’m thinking it must be a rite of the new year! A gang of soldiers get outed in a way that forces the military to take notice. The GI’s are outed not as gay men — no, much worst â€“- they’re outed as porn models for gaymen, jacking off and getting blowjobs on video.

And lately it’s been even more outrageous. The soldiers are blowing each other! They’re getting screwed up the ass, and taking it like champs. Moaning their GI-rene heads off. Just total little whores! Actually, some of them are monster whores with the wingspans and salami dicks to match!

The military mutters “Oh, crap, not again” but in public they go into furious spin mode. The phrase “a few bad apples” is once again heard throughout the land. GI’s are kicked out left and right, and the brass continues to deny that human nature exists — all kinds of human nature. As ever, the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines prefer to bury their bullnecks deep in the sand … until the next eruption of soldier-on-soldier jizz.

This time it happened at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina. Perhaps as many as seven paratroopers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division stand accused of performing in pornographic material. They will most likely be charged with violations of Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Article 134 targets disorderly conduct, indecent acts with another, and — for those enterprising souls who thought they’d make a little “finder’s fee” on the side — soliciting fellow soldiers to commit an offense.

If it were a civilian law and not part of the alternate reality that is military jurisprudence, Article 134 would be struck down as unconstitutionally vague. In effect it allows the military to court martial soldiers for anything the brass may suddenly decide is conduct unbecoming.

An interesting sidebar on this case is where the military stands on prostitution. Though the solders had sex for money, they won’t be charged with prostitution — but for the oddest reason: While both male and female personnel can, and have been, penalized for selling sex, sodomy for money isn’t considered prostitution.

Sodomy exists in its own special military world, with it very own article in the Uniform Code: Article 124. The military, however, will most likely decline to charge their wayward paratroopers under Article 124. Sodomy charges are now highly politicized. Such a charge in a case that is sure to have high visibility will embarrasses the military. At its highest reaches, the brass knows its policy against homosexuals is ill-conceived and on the wrong side of history. They are masters of strategy, the top brass, and can foresee a day when the anti-gay policy will be as much a blot on the organization as the segregation of black units during World War II.

Much depends on how cooperative the paratroopers are with the investigation, of course, but the military will take pains to make clear that the real transgression is that the soldiers made porn, not that they got it on with each other.

For the time being, the accused soldiers have been segregated from the rest of the unit in an undisclosed location. ”We are concerned about the privacy and rights of each trooper involved,” said Martha Rudd, an Army spokeswoman at the Pentagon, “and that [the soldiers] are treated with dignity and respect.”

More likely, the Army fears the public relations disaster that would result if one of the soldiers got the crap kicked out of him while the country was watching. The Pentagon already has the press on its back: The Army is being widely condemed after it discharged a 19-year old private, Kyle Lawson earlier this month for being gay. In case there’s any confusion, Lawson was not discovered because he was in porn. He wasn’t. The Army learned the boy was gay when he was severely beaten by a fellow soldier (who, by the way, was NOT discharged.)

Homosexuality remains a dicey topic for the armed forces. They do seem to make strenuous efforts not to know about the part-time sexwork of their hardened young warriors. Clearly, there’s no routine monitoring of Active Duty, All Worlds or any of the other home-studios that specialize in soldier boy porn. On the other hand, can you imagine the fallout if the public learned that some lieutenant was assigned to watch gay porn all day — just to catch soldiers who were breaking the rules! In wartime! With a recruitment shortage!

Perhaps, the military believes that the market for soldier boy porn is so marginal as to escape the notice of the wider culture. Most of these films are excruciatingly low-tech, with the same rec room or bedroom recycled over and over again. It’s perhaps reassuring for the brass to assume that the films are low-rent efforts to bankroll the tastes of the filmmakers — tastes that run to pay-for-play young men that the shutterbugs would not be able to afford otherwise.

Yet if the Pentagon imagines that any part of gay life remains in the closet, the Fort Bragg scandal should come as a familiar (by now) reality check. There’s a big audience out there, General — all of them, military-loving men, many former military themselves.

In the crosshairs of the current Fort Bragg investigation is not so much the paratroopers — who are merely collateral damage — but Active Duty, the small but popular porn company in North Carolina, run by Dink Flamingo. It is Flamingo’s films that have caused the current ruckus.

As I understand it, the legal position for the military is fairly limited. Certainly they can make Dink’s life pretty miserable, as they have in the past — throwing lawyers at him, confiscating videos, demanding impossibly detailed documentation to prove that all models are who they say they are, as well as proof of legal age. (Legal age is 18; military recruits can be as young as 17.)

Bottom line, though, Dink has done nothing illegal. It’s not against military law or any other law for him to solicit the soldiers, pay them, film them — any of it. It is against the Uniform Code, though, for the soldiers to accept his money, perform in his videos, or have sex for pay. (Independent of the military investigation, North Carolina television station WRAL is throwing a full-court press at Dink, emailing him, camping out in front of his house, printing the approximate location of his house on its website.)

So far all that has happened is that the Active Duty’s website was taken offline briefly, then brought back with all material behind the membership wall and no way to purchase a new membership — at least for the time being. It is doubtful that the military will try to take legal action against Flamingo, though. Army investigators seem to have learned a bitter lesson from the Bobby Garcia case a few years back.

Garcia specialized in sailors and marines. When he was arrested, his films were confiscated. He was subsequently released without charges, and his videos returned when he went before a judge.

The Navy then had to look on as Garcia promoted his films using their doomed investigation as a hook. In addition, as the details of the investigation became known, the predictable headlines appeared, thundering about “your tax dollars” being used to pay some Navy slug to watch porn all day, searching for unzipped sailors and marines.

Of course, the larger question is why a young soldier would risk the loss of a military paycheck — not to mention veterans’ benefits and a pension — to appear in a homo-sex video. No one is that oblivious, no matter how much he may affect an awful look of being mightily bored even as his dick stands, as the porn writers like to say, at attention. Writer Keith Bryan asked Dink Flamingo this very question in a memorable Nightcharm interview.

“A lot of these guys are really exhibitionists at heart,” replied Dink. “They want to show off.” After a moment’s reflection, he added, “The number one reason that most men do this is a) they’re lonely and b) they want someone to like them. They want to be admired.”

I have to admit that my sympathy for the accused paratroopers is somewhat … limited. The military’s stand on these matters is well-known. Dink has even said that the military warns the guys about him. (It doesn’t seem to work, does it?) I suppose for many boys, it’s easy money for not a ton of work. I do wonder, though, how many soldiers would do this if the military paid better.

But that would spoil all our fun, wouldn’t it.

And I do enjoy the Active Duty videos. They are an exception to my rule that I hate videos with nothing but pretty young things in them. Yes, the production quality can suck (and not in a good way) — although overall it has improved in the last year or so. There aren’t any stories or themes, not even the truncated ones you see in standard studio porn. But when you watch a couple of Active Duty videos in a row, as I do, you pretty much see American Psyches on Parade.

You have the good-looking but ordinary guys who discover that they love, love, *love* the camera. They know that just behind the lens, thousands of guys are getting off on them, and that’s just what they want. They may have convinced themselves that they are newly bisexual. Maybe they are. But they all seem to follow the cheerful philosophy of one of my favorite pornster’s of the 80’s, Drew Andrews.

Next, you have the guys who are painfully straight. Hot looking, yes, but very dull, sexually. They’re the ones who just close their eyes and think about the grass growing even though they getting a royal pipe cleaning from a master like Dink. You also have the guys who are sick of military life and are giving the finger to all its tight-assed rules. Finally, and most fascinating to me, you have the guys who honestly don’t quite understand what the hell they’re doing there.

Swedish, for example. He’s one of Dink’s recurring players. Often he looks like he’s positively tingling, he enjoys getting fucked so much — yet at the same time he’s utterly, transcendentally pissed that he’s enjoying it. Kody, on the other hand, has this how on earth did I get here look. In one video, he tells fellow soldier Dirk that he should never say there are things he wouldn’t do. Dink, he explains, has a way o f talking his way around those barriers. In short, with all the naked psyches parading past your screen, you get a sense that you’re watching real people having real sex — something that can go missing in more polished studio fare. It makes Flamingo’s videos immediate, arousing, sometimes surprising.

The Army will likely do its damnedest to make the Fort Bragg unpleasantness go away quickly and quietly. The soldiers will be counseled to admit their video-documented guilt, and then it will be all over but for the formalities. Dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of benefits. It’ll be a mark against the young men, sure, but it’s not exactly the Abu Ghraib prison abuse.

22 Comments

i like the idea of gays in the military. while they are at war, what else are they gonna do? homosexuality has been around since god created adam an eve. so what that people are gay, its natural….. for a man to desire another man or woman 2 woman. we are born with these feelings,we cant help the way we feel.while they are at war,they are gonna get horny after a day in the field,relaxing on their cots or taking a shower or in the mess hall or what. men cant help but to get horny when they see someone goodlooking weather or not its a man or woman they are starring at.please, its natural.i agree with the soldiers,they are free,and over 21,an live in the united states, they can be gay if they want to, so what,its natural…..like my case i was pushed away from women because of the bad things women used to do to me. so i vowed never to touch another woman as long as i live,i hate women!!!!! i’ll never be with another woman as long as i live cause of the shit they put me thru my entire life! and that caused me to go from bisexual to totaly gay! WOMEN! (im 44) what im trying to get at is there could be other reasons why people are gay! nobody needs to judge nobody cause of there sexuality, cause plainly its nobodys business what kind of sex people have with each other, except the person they are gonna fuck!! if the guys in the military wants to be gay, so what,its nobodys business except theirs. or if they want to be straight that their progitive.so what! im all for the gays,str8’s,bi’s,lesibians,frogs,princes,and whoever’s in the military,i love them all,they are protecting me and my right to live in the USA,and my freedom so that i dont have to fight the wars too,im all for them all,without them,were nothing…….since we all live in the USA,they shouldnt say a thing about their sex lives,cause what goes on in the bedroom should stay in the bedroom, they should’nt kick them out of the military just because they are gay,str8,or bi-lezzy, thats discrimination against their own soldiers.if any body gets kicked out of the military just because they are gay,then that is nothing but discrimination! discrimination against sex! isnt that in our constitution too.not to discriminate because or race,creed,color,or sex or age. DA!!!! its in the constitution! they can be gay if they want too , we all live in the united states,and pay taxes, i’ll be gay if i want too.im free,white and over 21,i’ll be gay if i want too! know what i mean?? furthermore they are getting that being gay is bad from the churches of this world.so what if we sin against god because we are gay,its already forgiven,god doesnt hold your sex life over your head and rub your nose in it all the time.he made us this way when he created adam an eve.queers have been around since the beggining of time and it will always be around theres no stopping it! they are going against themselfs (the government) when they try to put somebody out of the military just because they are gay.they are working against themselves and making it harder for themselves if they didnt know it.all im gonna say is its sex discrimination when they put our hard working men an women out of the military just because they are gay! all that work they done was invein! for nothing! put me out of a place just because im gay an see if somebody doesn;t get sued! catch my drift?!
put me out of the military just becauce im gay an see if i dont take it all the way to the president,id sue him too cause hes the one that told the military to do it! fucker! fuck that god damn bush and the rest of them in congress,they are nothing but a bunch of babtist any way! they need to leave the church out of the laws, about sex or whatever,and keep the church and government laws seperate! amen…….

Have wondered about the question of all those military boys in gay porn for some time. How could the military not know? And if they do, why are they looking the other way. The bases in San Diego are virtually gay porn puppy mills, for heaven’s sake!

As much as i enjoy looking at websites like activeduty, i am always amazed at how these young guys are so gulable to believe that they are not going to be found out about. as citizens we are free to view and make pornography, but the law is the law and these guys knew that what they were doing was illegal according to the military laws that they voluntarily chose to accept. if they wanted to make porn, they should have waited until they were out of the military the sad thing is that guys and there families and the children that they may have in the future will have to live with those bad decisions for the rest of there lives. people don’t think of these things when they sighn these porn contracts. Dink flamingo says that he is there friends, but he is willing to let them be exposed and ruined, but he isn’t man enough to show his own face to the public. I have had a membership before the scandal and after the scandal. it is not even close to being the same quality web site that it used to be. Most of the good models that were involved in the scandal are removed along with any video or mention of there names. leaving the website admittedly boring. seems like dink flamingos greed and in your face actions will unfortunately be the demize of this once great website. I would not waste my money anymore, there is other good websites. this is why we as homosexuals don’t have the respect we desire in main stream society, is because we think we don’t have to follow the laws of the land. if we don’t like those laws, then we must go through the proper procedures to change them, just like everyone else.

Having seen what’s been produced with the help of the guys from ‘Fort Fag’, I doubt anybody could claim that y ‘didn’t know what they were doing’. Dink Flamingo makes 1st class five finger shuffle flicks!

My first thought when I saw the news of Fort Bragg soldiers appearing in gay porn site was that it was a Fort Bragg Recruiting Tool. There are no limits to the things the Fort Bragg command will do to keep soldiers on duty.

At first I felt bad for our hot enlisted men. Although some are going to see some jail time, wage cuts, demotions and/or dismissals, some will now have their “hobby porn gig” launched to a semi lucrative porn career! Well, until they get to the ripe age of 25 when they are no longer sought out by porn productions companies because they are simply too darn old.

Although this is a bummer for the models, it has proven that the “active military” marketing angle isn’t made up. They were actually in the service at the time of taping making these videos even hotter to most viewers. And now owning copies of the movies involved in the scandal (which I do) are going to sell sell sell!

As a big fan of military porn, I wish the military would leave this guys alone. Either pay them enough to keep their pants on or let them earn money however they can. It would make more sense for the military to say that no one can wear their uniform or mention the military, while on film and practice true (don’t ask don’t tell) policies. Has anyone doing straight porn been discharged? I think not! The best of luck to the guys that get discharged, you will have a better life with less rules to follow.

It is 2007—dies anyone know who the guys that were caught are?
I hope it wasn/t Kody, or Shane, or Zane, or Rico at Cole, Dean, Brock,
Tuffy,Tully, or Brennan—They were my favorites–so far!

I was in Fort Polk and I thank God that I was drafted there–that’s where I came out of the closet, had a ball (many) in lake Charles, Houston, New Orleans,
and in the fields of Fort polk and guys’ cars. Thank U Jeeesus!!! I loved
the military—all those men ** hallelujah! Hey maybe that’s why I love
the Dink Flamongo vids…

Being a Brit I find the videos exceptionally stimulating and as a former military man I can understand the shit pay that soldiers get, not like those brass hats that make money like it’s going out of fashion, not to mention the sexual scandals that come from them, but are conveniently swept under the carpet.
If these guys need a bolt hole, they can come and stay in my home or on my boat any day, no strings attached.
And as I now live in Florida, the weather is OK too.

The acient Greeks had the right idea, by fostering gay relationships in their men, it actually strengthened the unit they were in and gave them more resolve to fight for each other.